The present invention relates to component feeding method and device, and more particularly to component feeding method and device wherein a component carrying tape, that is constituted by a tapelike member having spaces formed at a predetermined pitch in a lengthwise direction of the tapelike member for accommodating components therein and a cover tape for covering the components, is fed at the predetermined pitch along a component feeding guide towards a component feeding position. The cover tape is peeled off just before the component feeding position so that components are taken out and supplied.
A conventional component feeding device B is described with reference to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14. Reference numeral 1 represents a component carrying tape, which is fed at a predetermined pitch along the upper side of a component feeding guide 2 towards a component feeding position. At the distal end on its top of the component feeding guide 2 is mounted a holding cover 3, which is provided with an opening 4 such as to correspond to the component feeding position and a slit 6 formed by cutting the holding cover from one side at a point before the component feeding position. The cover tape 1b of the component carrying tape 1 is drawn out from this slit 6 thereby being peeled off from the tapelike member 1a, and is further wound up around a take-up reel 7. The tapelike member 1a is thus fed to the component feeding position in a state that its accommodating spaces 1c are exposed, but thanks to the holding cover 3 being above the accommodating spaces 1c, the components 5 within the accommodating spaces 1c are stably supplied to the component feeding opening 4 without jumping out therefrom. A shutter 8 is provided on the holding cover 3 which opens and closes the component feeding opening 4 concurrently with the component feeding operation, and the construction is such that the component 5 can be taken out in an appropriate attitude by opening the shutter 8 only when a suction nozzle 10 is going to pick up the component 5.
In FIG. 13, reference numerals 14, 15 and 16 respectively represent a tape reel around which the component carrying tape 1 is wound, a reel support shaft, and a feed wheel disposed at the distal end of the component feeding guide 2. 17 is a support shaft, around which the take-up reel 7 is rotatably supported and around which a feed lever 20 is supported such as to be rockable. A rocking movement of the feed lever 20 in a direction shown by arrow D causes the shutter 8 to move backwards thereby revealing the component feeding opening and allowing the component 5 to be taken out, and the return rock of the feed lever 20 causes the take-up reel 7 to rotate in a direction shown by arrow C by the function of a ratchet mechanism 19 comprising a ratchet wheel 18, thereby to take up the cover tape 1b and simultaneously to drive the feed wheel 16 to rotate by means of a link/lever mechanism 22 and a ratchet mechanism 23 for the pitch feed of the component carrying tape 1. A pair of guide pins 24 support the shutter 8 such as to be movable and elongated holes 24a are formed in the shutter 8 to-which the guide pins 24 fit in. Link/lever mechanism 22 comprises a link 25 and a rocking lever 26, and is constructed such that a pin 27 provided at the distal end of the rocking lever 26 engages with a notch 24b formed by cutting off the shutter 8.
In the conventional component feeding device B described above, however, the construction is such that, by the returning rocking movement of the feed lever 20, the cover tape 1b is peeled off from the tapelike member 1a as shown by arrow c at the same time when the component carrying tape 1 is moved in a direction shown by arrow a while the shutter 8 moves in a direction shown by arrow b thereby covering the component feeding opening 4 as shown in FIG. 14, i.e., the peeling off of the cover tape 1b and the pitch feed of the component carrying tape 1 occur simultaneously. There was thus a problem that the component 5 in the accommodating space 1c is displaced and may even stand up upon the shock generated by the above two actions, and as the attitude of the components 5 becomes irregular, the component 5 positioned at the component feeding opening 4 may not be picked up by the suction nozzle 10 in an appropriate attitude, as a result of which a mounting failure occurs.
In view of the above problem in the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a component feeding method and device by which components can be supplied in an appropriate attitude towards a component feeding position.
The present invention provides a component feeding method wherein a component carrying tape constituted by a tapelike member having accommodating spaces formed at a predetermined pitch in a lengthwise direction of the tapelike member for accommodating components therein, the components being covered by a cover tape, is fed at a predetermined pitch and the cover tape is peeled off before a component feeding position, whereby a component is taken out from the accommodating space thereof and fed at the component feeding position, characterized by having processes of: opening a shutter that covers the upper surface of the component carrying tape at the component feeding position when the component carrying tape is paused and at the same time peeling off the cover tape; taking out the component and feeding the same; and closing the shutter and at the same time feeding the component carrying tape at the predetermined pitch. Since the process of peeling off the cover tape and the pitch feed process of component carrying tape are separated, it is prevented that the component within the accommodating space is greatly displaced causing its attitude to become irregular due to vibration upon the peeling off of the cover tape coupled with the vibration upon the pitch feed of the component carrying tape, whereby it is ensured that the component is picked up in an appropriate attitude and thus a highly reliable mounting operation can be realized.
The present invention also provides a component feeding apparatus wherein a component carrying tape constituted by a tapelike member having accommodating spaces formed at a predetermined pitch in a lengthwise direction of the tapelike member for accommodating components therein, the components being covered by a cover tape, is fed at a predetermined pitch and the cover tape is peeled off before a component feeding position, whereby a component is taken out from the accommodating space thereof and fed at the component feeding position, characterized by having: a shutter movable between a position where it covers the upper surface of the component carrying tape at the component feeding position and a position where it opens the component feeding position, the shutter being provided with a slit through which the cover tape peeled off from the component carrying tape is passed and drawn out; and peeling-off and taking-up means for pulling the cover tape drawn out through the slit so as to peel off the cover tape from the component carrying tape and for winding up the peeled-off cover tape. By forming a slit in the shutter for peeling off the cover tape, the cover tape can be peeled off in synchronism with the opening movement of the shutter separately from the pitch feed process of the component carrying tape. The above method can be thereby implemented using a conventional basic construction of the pitch feed and peeling off mechanism and their driving means.
Furthermore, by providing a magnet for magnetically attracting the component in the component feeding guide between the area where the cover tape is peeled off and the vicinity of the component feeding position, the component can be held to the bottom of the accommodating space at the time of pitch-feeding the component carrying tape or peeling off the cover tape, and it is ensured that the component is fed in an appropriate attitude.
By providing a construction wherein the peeling-off and taking-up means comprise a take-up reel around which the cover tape is wound up at the same time when a feed lever rocks in one direction, said feed lever being adapted to cause the component carrying tape to be fed at a pitch and the shutter to open and close by a reciprocating rocking movement thereof, and a rocking draw-out lever which rocks with the rocking movement of the feed lever the function of a link, the rocking draw-out lever being adapted to pull up the cover tape hooked over a pair of fixed rollers in cooperation with these fixed rollers when rocking in one direction, and to let out the cover tape towards the shutter side when rocking in the opposite direction, the cover tape can be peeled off simultaneously when the shutter is opened and the component carrying tape can be fed at the pitch in synchronism with the closing movement of the shutter with a simple construction wherein the rocking draw-out lever is added, and thus peeling off of the cover tape and pitch-feeding of the tape can be separately achieved while using the structure of a conventional component feeding device.
If the shutter is provided with a dry type lubricating layer on sliding surfaces thereof, abrasion or scorching can be prevented even under a high-speed operation, and also even if the shutter directly contacts with the component carrying tape, there is no risk that the lubricating agent adheres to any of tapelike member, cover tape, or component whereby lubricating effect will be decreased or the component will be contaminated.
Furthermore, by setting the distance between the top surface of the component feeding guide and the shutter at the portion on the side of the component feeding position with respect to the slit smaller substantially by the thickness of the cover tape than the distance between the top surface of the component feeding guide and the shutter at the portion on the opposite side of the component feeding position with respect to the slit, the gap between the tapelike member from which the cover tape has been peeled off and the shutter can be made nearly zero, whereby the attitude of components can be certainly restricted with the shutter thus preventing it from becoming irregular.
By further providing a feed lever that is capable of rocking in a reciprocating way for the pitch feed of the component carrying tape and for causing the shutter to open and close, a feed wheel that rotates in cooperation with returning rocking movement of the feed lever by engagement with feed holes formed in the component carrying tape for feeding the component carrying tape at the pitch, and a rocking lever that rocks in a reciprocating way in cooperation with the reciprocating rocking movement of the feed lever to open and close the shutter, wherein the radius of rotation of the engaged portion between the feed wheel and the feed holes is determined substantially the same as the radius of rotation of the engaged portion between the rocking lever and the shutter, the speed of pitch-feeding of the component carrying tape can be made the same as the speed of closing movement of the shutter whereby their actions can be completely synchronized, and it is prevented that the shutter opens on its way allowing the component to jump up, or that the cover tape enters the under side of the shutter.
Also, by further providing a rockable feed lever, a rocking lever which rocks in cooperation with rocking movements of the feed lever, a feed wheel having a feed toothed wheel that engages with feed holes formed in the component carrying tape and a drive toothed wheel uniformly provided to the feed toothed wheel and engaged with a ratchet mechanism provided to the rocking lever so that rotation drive force of the rocking lever is transmitted in only one direction to the drive toothed wheel of the feed wheel, a first back stop lever engaged with the drive toothed wheel such as to restrict rotation in the other direction of the feed wheel when the feed lever rocks in one direction, and a second back stop lever engaged with the drive toothed wheel of the feed wheel such as to provide a rotation drive force to the drive toothed wheel in the other direction thereby to position the feed wheel at a position where the feed wheel comes to a halt, the feed wheel can be rotated and stopped precisely at the predetermined pitch even under a high-speed operation with the tensile force from the cover tape being wound up, and the accuracy of the position where the component carrying tape comes to a halt can be ensured.
Also, by further providing a push-up pin provided at the component feeding position for pushing up from below the component in the accommodating space of the component carrying tape, wherein the push-up pin is formed with a flat surface at the upper end thereof of a diameter to a degree that it is capable of piercing through the bottom surface of the accommodating space of the component carrying tape, there will be no such inconveniences that the accuracy in push-up position is lowered because of worn-out tip of the push-up pin thus causing unstable component pick-up operation, the component is chipped by a sharpened tip of the push-up pin, or the component is displaced when being pushed up thus causing pick-up failure.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a component feeding apparatus wherein a component carrying tape constituted by a tapelike member having accommodating spaces formed at a predetermined pitch in a lengthwise direction of the tapelike member for accommodating components therein, the components being covered by a cover tape, is fed at a predetermined pitch and the cover tape is peeled off before a component feeding position, whereby a component is taken out from the accommodating space thereof and fed at the component feeding position, characterized by having a plurality of component feeding guides disposed in parallel, a covering member provided to each of the component feeding guides for holding and guiding the component carrying tape towards the component feeding position, said covering member being formed with a slit through which the cover tape peeled off from the component carrying tape is passed and drawn out, and a plurality of peeling-off and taking-up means for pulling the cover tape drawn out from each of the slits so as to peel off the cover tape from the component carrying tape and for winding up the peeled off cover tape, wherein open ends of the slits are formed outwardly. With such an arrangement, more types of components can be loaded in a smaller space thus facilitating manufacture of various types of products, and also, since the moving pitch of different types of components is made smaller, the speed of operation can be increased. Moreover, since, when loading a component carrying tape to one of the component feeding guide, the other component feeding guide or its holding member do not obstruct such loading operation, loading of the component carrying tape can be accomplished simply in a short time, whereby production efficiency is enhanced.